SANTA CLARA COUNTY DEMOCRATIC CENTRAL COMMITTEE

6:45 pm, County Building cafeteria, 70 W. Hedding St. San Jose

 

MINUTES FOR Thursday, August 3rd, 2006

 

1.         CALL TO ORDER (7:20 pm)

 

2.         ROLL CALL

Absent: Julie Lind, Francine Davis, Bill Dias, Cathy Dias, Bill Furguson, Deepka Lalwani, Thelma Spaziani, Scott Rafferty, Aldyth Parle, Xavier Campos, Hope Cahan, Kevin Moore, Mark Moore, Dan Kenney, Charmaine Jabr, Brittany Bach, Steve Preminger, Craig Mann, Kristine Dillon, Alberto Torrico, Ira Ruskin, Joe Coto, Simon Salinas, Liz Figueroa, Joe Simitian, Elaine Alquist, Peg Pinard, Jerry McNerney, Anna Eshoo, Mike Honda, Chris Stampolis, Ruth Ashford, Beverly Waller-Wharton, John Nguyen, Fran Bennett, Geni Gerard

 

Alternates: Diane Rolfe for Peter Chiu, Brandon Sulser for Anna Song, Swanee Edwards for Dennis Kennedy, Bill James for Sally Lieber, Jon Kessler for Rebecca Cohn, Clark Williams for John Laird, Jim Ross for Jerry McNerney, Sandra Soto for Zoe Lofgren, Clarence Madrilejos for Herb Wadley, Diego Barragan for Anil Babbar

 

3.         IDENTIFICATION OF VISITORS

            Manny Diaz spoke (announced his Aug 17 campaign kickoff)

Visitors: RM ÒAurosÓ Harman, Ralph Wheeler, Robin Metalitz, Mehdi Safipour, David Karson, Maryam Karson, Tim Quigley, Justin Carvalho, Margie Mitchell, Doug Winslow

 

4.         ADOPTION OF AGENDA

            Motion to approve, second, so carried

 

5.         APPROVAL OF MINUTES (Minutes are posted at sccdp.org)

Motion to approve, seconded, approved unanimously

 

6.         ISSUES

 

7.         NEW BUSINESS

á       Update of UDC Enablement Act: The following changes were approved unanimously:

 

a.      II.C. Changed to

ÒThe Steering Committee of the UDC shall consist of the following seven personsÓ

 

b.     II.C.5. Changed to

ÓThree at-large representative, nominated by the County Chair after consultation with the Executive Board, and approved by the SCCDCC.Ó

 

á       Appointment of 2 new members to UDC steering committee:

The executive board recommends electing

Emy Thurber, Hope Cahan

To the UDC Steering Committee.

So moved by Alicia Lanier, seconded by Vince Cortese Ð passed unanimously

 

á       Vacancy on 23rd AD

23rd AD members recommend Buu Thai to fill the seat

David Parker spoke on his history and asked to be considered for the position

Buu elected 21-12

 

á       Attendance is important Ð state law allows to miss 3 meetings

 

á       2 vacancies in 21st AD and 1 in 22nd AD will be filled in September

 

8.         REPORTS FROM OFFICERS AND OTHERS

A.      Executive Board: David Cohen for Hope Cahan

The executive board met on July 18 and discussed:

á       Upcoming visit by Arnold and Bush

á       Reviewed revised Arnold resolution

á       Vacancies on County Committee and the procedure for filling them

á       Expansion of the UDC board

á       Status on campaign offices

á       November 2nd meeting as a phone banking night

á       Our lack of funds in our Federal account

B.      Chair: James Kim for Steve Preminger Ð no report

C.      Vice Chair: James Kim

Clubs picnic on July 19 Ð 9 clubs sponsored the event

D.      Treasurer: Drina Collins

E.       Secretary: David Cohen for Hope Cahan Ð no report

F.       Community Services and Voter Registration: Carolyn Curtis

G.      Finance: Jim Thurber Ð fundraising letter will go out to 2000 randomly selected households

H.      Candidate Recruitment and Endorsement: Jon Kessler

Endorsement process will be going on after filing closes Ð need names for endorsement committee by Aug 15

I. Communication: David Cohen

Volunteers needed for SCCDP newsletter

J.        Campaign Services: Philip Bump Ð no report

K.       Issues: Herb Engstrom

L.      Political Outreach: Tom Cochran

Club, AD, SD, & CD Reports

á       SVLDF Ð Enrique Colin

á       South County Ð Swanee Edwards Ð annual fundraiser Aug 20

á       APA Ð Buu Thai

á       Moorpark Club Ð Clarence Madrilejos

á       Dean Club Ð Ralph Wheeler
At our outreach meetings Aug 2, our San Jose group listened to Howard Dean New York Times Talk interview. We folded flyers for tabling at the Santa Clara County Fair August 4-6, and discussed precinct walking, new door hangers, identifying voters and getting the Democrats' plan out to the people since the major media outlets won't do it for us.
Our north county group hosted De Anza Professor Nicky Gonzales Yuen, who spoke to us about politics the Wellstone way. We pract6ied memorizing & speaking the 6 points on the doorhanger, & 3 more club members have signed up to walk precinct.
At our working meeting July 24 we unanimously endorsed Proposition 89, Clean Money.

á       LGBT Ð Clark Williams

á       Almaden Valley Ð

á      PDC Ð Jon Kessler

á      DAWN Ð Carol Garvey
The DAWN board voted to target two races in the general election: Cindy Chavez for Mayor and Karyn Sinunu for DA. We have cut checks for the maximum donation for both and are looking for innovative ways to help these two highly qualified women candidates. At our next board meeting next week we will decide which races to endorse in. Any DAWN member wishing to give input on any race form school board up please contact Carol Garvey. Finally, the DAWN subsidized 10 half-priced tickets to Zoe LofgrenÕs annual summer BBQ. There are 2 $20 tix left for any DQN member.

á       SCCDC Ð Alicia Lanier
Our club was one of the nine clubs co-hosting the All-Clubs picnic at Rainbow Park, which was free to all our current members. Almost 200 people attended, including numerous elected officials and candidates in November election races. Many of our SCCDC members were among those enjoying a day of good food and fun. A big Thank You to SCCDC members Joe Alvarado for helping barbeque burgers and hotdogs; Pat Poujade and Alicia Lanier for registering/welcoming picnic attendees; Herb Engstrom, Bill and Mary Barmettler for working our club info table and helping recruit four new SCCDC members.
Upcoming Meeting on August 21. We will be voting on endorsements/donations for the following races: U.S. Congress, Ca. Assembly, SCC Board of Supervisors, District Attorney, San Jose Mayor, Santa Clara Mayor. Our program speaker will be Aurelia Figueroa, organizer of the U.S. Model House of Representatives for teens which was held for the first time in Washington D.C. this past spring. We supported this program and SCCDC members Herb and Mary Engstrom were there. We meet at 6 p.m. at Carrow?s Restaurant on El Camino.
Look for our 2 new TV shows on your local public access TV station and on our website at www.DemocraticClub-scc.org. Programs: 1) Mary Hughes, telling about the hot November races across the country; and 2) Ca. Proposition 89 on Public Financing of State Campaigns with Greg Miller of the sponsoring organization, the California Nurses Association.
 

á       Iranian-American Club Ð Morteza Tajally

 

M.     Regional Director: Emy Thurber

á       Steve Chessin spoke about process for Prop 89 endorsement at eboard

á       Thank those who have made phone calls for Angelides

á       New website www.arnoldflip-flop.org

á       Resolution on ArnoldÕs groping improved and sent to state resolutions committee

á       Angelides campaign doing well Ð trying to set up house parties Ð need hosts Ð need people for Santa Clara County steering committee

á       Auros Harman spoke about VivaDemocracy site for Angelides campaign

 

á       Sally Lieber spoke about the critical juncture we are at in California
Important issues coming up Ð minimum wage increase, farm worker health, prison issues
Sally will be running for County Board of Supervisors, district 3

 

N.     Democratic National Committee: Chris Stampolis Ð no report

O.      Pro-Choice Coalition: Claudia Shope

 

P.      DTV Report: Steve Chessin

Democratic Television Producer Steve Chessin reported that our June

taping was with California Democratic Party Political Director Sam

Rodriguez. Our July taping was with Santa Clara County Chief Assistant

District Attorney Karyn Sinunu, who is running for District Attorney.

 

Our guest in August will be San Jose City Councilmember and Mayoral

candidate Hon. Cindy Chavez.

 

We will be on San Jose Comcast Channel 15A August 10th with the show we

taped with Sam Rodirguez, August 24th with the show we taped with Karyn

Sinunu, and September 7th and October 5th with the show we will tape

with Hon. Cindy Chavez.

 

See the sccdp web site for the schedule in the other communities, and to

download our shows.

 

We could still use more good Democrats on the crew. No prior video

experience is necessary.

 

San Jose Channel 15A (also serves part of Cupertino), 8:00pm every

other Thursday (408-918-3200):

2006:

Aug 10  DTV 137           Sam Rodriguez

Aug 24  DTV 138           Karyn Sinunu

Sep 7   DTV 139           Hon. Cindy Chavez (II)

Sep 21   DTV 140           TBD-140

Oct 5    DTV 139           Hon. Cindy Chavez (II)

Oct 19   DTV 140           TBD-140

 

See http://www.sccdp.org/dtv.php for the full schedule, and to download

our shows.

 

Q.     CDC Report: Jay Jackman Ð no report

 

9.        OLD BUSINESS

            emergency motion to support hotel workers Ð added to agenda by unanimous vote of membership

statement adopted Ð ÒAs an organization in the South B ay, we believe in the right of workers to provide their families with just wages and benefits. We stand with hotel workers in their petition to work together for the following:

á       Livable wages

á       Affordable health care

á       Job security

á       Diversity in the workforce

We decry any attempts to block their efforts through intimidation or harassment, including unjust firings or disciplines.

We join the larger community in saying no to corporations who pay poverty wages in Santa Clara County and we commit ourselves to supporting local hotel workers in achiving justice and dignity on the job and a better future for themselves and their families.Ó

 

10.       ANNOUNCEMENTS

 

11.        EXECUTIVE BOARD MEETING

            The next Executive Board meeting TBA

 

12.        ADJOURNMENT

               9:01 pm